The Colonie s Award-Winning Editorial & Graphic Design Talent Takes the Spotlight

Since its inception in 2008 The Colonie has evolved from a resource for award-winning creative editorial talent best known for its work in the commercial arena - into a seamless, full-service company with a diverse team of top-caliber editorial, visual FX and design talent attracting a mix of work - from spots and digital content to emerging media and films.

The Colonies three partners - creative editors Brian Sepanik and Bob Ackerman and executive producer Mary Caddy - shared commitment to a talent-driven approach to growing their business model has served it well. A complement of skill sets, aesthetic sensibilities, and a passion for experimenting and pushing boundaries sets the company's editors, assistant editors, graphic designers, visual effects artists - and even its interns - apart from the crowd.

Recent wins by three members of The Colonies team and two of its interns at the recent AICE 14th Annual AICE Camp Kuleshov Competition, and The Midwest Independent Film Festivals seventh annual Advertising Community Shorts Festival attest to the company's collective keen eye for talent.

The Colonie's assistant visual FX artist Ben Pokorny was awarded top honors at AICE Chicago's Camp Kuleshov Design' competition for his graphics-driven title sequence for Terry Gilliam's dystopian fantasy, Brazil.' The guidelines for the contest were to select a film from a list of ten titles and, using only footage from the movie, and original graphics that they designed, create an intro title sequence that fits its feel and style.

I hadn't seen Brazil' before so I decided to give it a watch, says Pokorny. I loved the style of the film; I loved the style of the technology, and thought it would be incredibly fun to adapt that to a title sequence. My main goal was to the keep the feel of the hectic automated world depicted in the film while integrating the credits into the mix of malfunctioning technology and paperwork.

Pokorny took footage from the movie and modified it, using both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effect to create a series of work order forms titled Department of Information.' The documents matched the look and style of the forms used in the film, with the addition of a film credit on the name' line of each one. The sequence of paperwork with the movie's credits flows seamlessly into a scene from the film that opens with a similar looking business form being put on a clipboard by a worker and stamped.

A graduate of Columbia College, Chicago where he studied computer animation, Ben Pokorny joined The Colonie as an assistant editor in 2012. He made the move to his current position as assistant to visual FX artist, Tom Dernulc, early this year, building on his training and bringing an editor's eye to his new role. His recent work includes a spot for Nintendo Super Smash Bros. 3DS for Leo Burnett.

Ben Pokorny, assistant visual FX artist, The Colonie, winner of top honor at AICE's Camp Kuleshov Competition

Camp Kuleshov Trailer Competition challenged assistant editors to select one of 27 films and cut a 90-second trailer that promotes it as a picture of a different genre. First Runner-Up went to assistant editor Jimmy Helm of The Colonie for Maniac.' Helm's chose the film Tootsie' and skillfully crafted a trailer that twisted Dustin Hoffman's lovable comedic character into a foreboding diabolical threat.

As with any project, I started by watching all of the footage. However, my focus was on catching anything that could be bent to support a foreboding storyline. I then began to assemble a substantial amount of material to build a story with a dark twist, says Helm. There's a lot of latitude with a trailer - the story needs to be solid but not complicated, as long as it leaves the audience in a state of anticipation.

I found the necessary plot points and added ominous sound elements to set the dark tone. Punctuating the story with a series of title cards helped steadily build tension that heightened and held until the last frame, which revealed the title and release date - Halloween 2015, says Helm. I cut Maniac over a 16-hour period and by the time I watched the final edit I'm proud to say that I had thoroughly creeped myself out.

A title card for Maniac,' a trailer that puts a dark twist on the comedic film, 'Tootsie'

A frame of Dustin Hoffman's character plays into the foreboding storyline of Maniac

Helm grew up in Nashville and discovered a passion for film - as well as Blockbuster's classic section - while still in middle school. He spent his time studying the greats - Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick - and trying to mimic the camera and editing techniques with his Dad's video camera.

A filmmaking major at Columbia College, Chicago, Jimmy Helm applied for an internship at The Colonie in 2010. Six months later he was offered a full-time position as an assistant editor, and began working alongside veteran cutter Tom Pastorelle. Since joining the company hes worked on a variety of commercials, including McDonald's, Kellogg's, Centrum Silver, and Kay Jewelers.

Tom taught me the importance of method when it comes to editing, says Helm. Whether its a 30-second commercial or a 30-minute documentary, every film has a step-by-step process mixed with instinctual creativity.

The Colonie remains just as discerning when it comes to accepting applicants for internships. Michael Dowdle, currently an intern at the company, won top Editorial' honors at Camp Kuleshov's Tent City Competition for Devil's Due,' a horror movie take on the film Dare Devil. Another intern at The Colonie, Brandon Danziger, followed him, as first runner-up, in the Editorial' competition with his intro, entitled 8 Horrible Bosses.'

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